Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-01

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You let a friend stay at your apartment while you were away on a trip. When you returned home, you discovered that a valuable possession was broken.

Write a letter to your friend. In your letter
• describe the broken possession.
• explain why it is important to you.
• explain what you would like your friend to do.

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear _________,

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Dear Aman,

I hope this letter finds you in radiant health and high spirits. I want to share with you that when last month i came back from Indian then I found my laptop was broken. Actually, I visited India to attend my cousin' marriage with my whole family. Therefore, nobody was at my home. On that time, you came Windsor to stay for two days with your friend at my apartment. Moreover, my laptop is very crucial for me as i use it for making assignments for my study . Now i am coming from india so i do not have enough money to buy it . Apart from this, our financial condition is not good . So, i am not able to buy new. I would be good solution if you give me some money to repair it and i will give you when i have it . i hope you understan

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The letter addresses all three bullet points: describing the broken item (laptop), explaining its importance (for assignments), and requesting a solution (financial help for repairs). However, the tone is somewhat inconsistent for a letter to a friend, and the development of ideas is limited. The explanation regarding the financial situation feels slightly abrupt and lacks the natural flow expected in a personal letter. While the task requirements are met, the depth of the response could be improved to better reflect the relationship between the writer and the friend.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter is organized into a single block of text, which makes it difficult to follow. Paragraphing is essential for IELTS tasks to separate different ideas. While there are some cohesive devices used, such as 'Moreover' and 'Apart from this', they are sometimes used mechanically or inappropriately. The progression of ideas is clear, but the lack of paragraph breaks and the somewhat disjointed sentence structure hinder the overall flow of the letter.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. Phrases like 'radiant health' are slightly unnatural in this context, and there are errors in word choice, such as 'coming from india' instead of 'returning from India'. The student relies on basic vocabulary to convey their message. To achieve a higher band, the student should aim for more natural collocations and a wider range of vocabulary that fits the informal tone of a letter to a friend.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including issues with verb tense ('i came back'), capitalization ('i', 'india'), and sentence structure ('On that time', 'It would be good solution'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with missing spaces after periods and incomplete sentences at the end ('i hope you understan'). While the meaning is generally clear, the high frequency of errors in basic grammar and punctuation significantly impacts the quality of the writing.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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